Pope orders reform after flap over lifting of excommunication for Holocaust denier

August 9th, 2009 Pope: Nazi concentration camps a symbol of evilCASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy —Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that Nazi concentration camps were "extreme symbols of evil" and hell on earth. The German-born pontiff, who was forced to join the Hitler Youth, was remembering two saints who had died at the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

July 29th, 2009 Pope: 'Guardian angel' did not stop accidentLES COMBES, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that his guardian angel was clearly acting "on superior orders" when he let the pontiff fall and break his wrist this month. The 82-year-old pope said in a lighthearted tone that: "Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility, give me more time for prayer and meditation," the pope added.

July 8th, 2009 Vatican replaces cardinal in Holocaust controversyVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday replaced the cardinal responsible for lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop as part of the Vatican's effort to reconcile with an ultraconservative group. The commission that had been in charge of the effort will now be under the authority of a powerful office seen as close to the pontiff, the Vatican said.

June 5th, 2009 Pope meets with Irish churchmen after abuse reportVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has met with Ireland's top churchmen following the publication of a damning report detailing decades of rapes, humiliation and beatings at church-run reform schools in Ireland. The Vatican says they briefed the pope on the report.

May 14th, 2009 Analysis: Pope faced high bar to please IsraelisJERUSALEM — Even if he had said all the right things about the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews, the German-born Pope Benedict XVI would have had a hard time winning over Israelis on his visit to the Jewish state. His background as a German who served under the Nazis, the Roman Catholic Church's history of anti-Semitism, his predecessor's extraordinary outreach to Jews and a series of public relations gaffes — not to mention a long-standing dispute over the conduct of the Holocaust-era pope — created formidable obstacles for Benedict to overcome in his relations with the Jews.

May 12th, 2009 Pope seeks reconciliation at Jerusalem holy siteJERUSALEM — Pope Benedict XVI took his message of peace to the most contentious site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday, urging both sides to engage in "a sincere dialogue aimed at building a world of justice and peace." On the second day of his Holy Land tour, the pope visited the Dome of the Rock, where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and the adjacent Western Wall, revered by Jews as a remnant of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Competing claims to the hilltop compound — known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews as the Temple Mount — have sparked violence in the past.

May 11th, 2009 Pope pays homage to Holocaust victims in IsraelJERUSALEM — Pope Benedict XVI pledged to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust on Monday, as he sought to repair strains created by his decision to lift the excommunication of a bishop who denied the genocide took place. Other tensions dated back even further to the Vatican's wartime legacy.

May 11th, 2009 Pope calls mosque visit highlight of Jordan tripAMMAN, Jordan — Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians and Muslims on Monday to work toward religious tolerance and said his visit to a Jordan's largest mosque was one of the highlights so far of his first Middle East pilgrimage. During a red-carpet farewell ceremony at Amman's international airport, the pope also praised Jordan's King Abdullah II for his treatment of the desert country's tiny Christian minority.

May 11th, 2009 Pope in Israel calls for Palestinian homelandTEL AVIV, Israel — Pope Benedict XVI called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian homeland immediately after he arrived in Israel Monday, a stance that could put him at odds with his hosts on a trip aimed at easing strains between the Vatican and Jews. The pope also took on the delicate issue of the Holocaust, pledging to "honor the memory" of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide at the start of his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

May 11th, 2009 Pope arrives in Israel for 5-day visitTEL AVIV, Israel — Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Israel on an emotion-charged visit to the Holy Land hoping to improve relations with Jews and Muslims. Benedict landed at Israel's international airport in Tel Aviv on Monday after spending three days in neighboring Jordan.

May 9th, 2009 Pope: Church and Jews share 'inseparable bond'AMMAN, Jordan — Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that his visit to the Middle East was a reminder of the "inseparable bond" between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, a relationship that has been strained at times under his leadership. The pope spoke from Mount Nebo, the wind-swept hill overlooking the Jordan valley from where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land.

May 9th, 2009 Pope in Israel seeks closer Jewish-Catholic bondIn a wall of the tiny museum at Rome's majestic central synagogue hangs a copy of the 1555 edict of Pope Paul IV that confined the Jews to the ghetto, branding them as killers of Christ. The display stands as an permanent reminder of the tortured two-millennia history of Jewish-Catholic relations — an estrangement that only in the past 50 years has begun to heal.

February 28th, 2009 VATICAN CITY - An apology issued by Richard Williamson, the British bishop at the centre of an international row over the denial of the Holocaust, 'does not seem to respect' the terms set by the Vatican, the Holy See's chief spokesman said Friday. Father Federico Lombardi described Williamson's apology as 'generic and equivocal', contrasting it to a request made by the Vatican to Williamson that he 'clearly and publicly distance himself' from his remarks on the Holocaust.

February 11th, 2009 VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI condemned Thursday all forms of anti-Semitism in his first face-to-face meeting with Jewish leaders since the outbreak of a row over a Holocaust-denying bishop. 'It is beyond question that any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable,' the pontiff said referring to the Nazi mass-murder of Jews.

January 27th, 2009 VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday expressed 'solidarity' with the Jewish people and asked four recently reinstated bishops to adhere to the Second Vatican Council which prescribes brotherly relations with Jews. The pope during his general audience said the reality of the Nazi mass murder of Jews, known as the Holocaust, or Shoah, cannot be cancelled through any form of denial.